the end of the blog

No more blogging for me. One year is long enough I think. Thanks for checking in!

Rock on baby Axel!

He's here! Jaime and Will are the proud parents of Axel Huth Martin, born yesterday, June 10th ---- congrats!

Many of you saw this in an email, but here's the first pic Mama J sent out:



Is he not the cutest one-day old you've ever seen?

The Ai Portland Open

Maybe I'll work on my golf swing so I can actually participate next year. After a close call, it became clear I should NOT be allowed to drive the cart.

Sara Nylin Photography

I will soon have a permanent link to Sara's "Casual Supplement" blog... but right now it's late and I'm feeling lazy. To whet your appetite, here is a recent original:

The Birdologist Arrives

I have to say, Brian's first trip to Oregon was a smashing success. As usual, I like to cram 8 million things into three days of sightseeing, but it was totally worth it. We did some things I've never done before either, including a 4.5 hour drive to southern Oregon to see a Celtic/bluegrass Grateful Dead cover band perform at a Jewish community center that served coffee and cookies (which, believe it or not, is why he flew here all the way from Florida). Oh, and we were chauffeured there in a BMW convertible from our posh digs in the mountains by my coworker Scott who also came to the show. But I'm getting ahead of myself.....

Rhododendron Gardens (SE Portland):



Skyline Tavern BBQ:




The Gorge/Mt. Hood:




Out with the pals (I'll spare you the karaoke pics):





Farmer's Market:




Ashland, Wake the Dead:









For a more photojournalistic, wittier, and overall better account of this quirky trip, check out Sara's blog http://saranylin.blogspot.com Thank you to Sara for being the 3rd perfect road trip partner.

Orcas Island, Sucia Island

Glen and Sarah used their vacation this year very wisely with an 8 day trip to Orcas Island. I stupidly wasn't quick enough to get a picture of Glen egging Biff's car, which is something I'll probably always regret. Being the nice guy he is, regardless of Glen's antics, Biff organized a day trip to Sucia Island for all of us (including Lucy), and it made for quite the perfect day. Besides the egging and island hopping, other highlights include Biff's first stab at karaoke, a late night island party and a China slideshow.

PJ watches his beets grow:



Sarah telling Glen that he absolutely MUST get on the boat to Sucia Island:



Fake Captain:



Sarah and the real Captain:



Lucy hated every minute of this boat ride:



Picnic on Sucia Island:



On the hike:



On the boat ride back (beers courtesy of the fishing tourists we tagged along with):



China Biff teaches us about China:



The Lower Tavern enjoys the interpreted sounds of George Michael:



Lucy waits for the ferry to come and take us away:

Pacific City/Depoe Bay, Coast

I had to turn right around and go back out to the coast last week after spending the previous weekend there. This time it was work-related and really short-lived. I ran into Kent and Steph out there (we decided to keep up the trend of coinciding work trips) and had dinner at a restaurant in Depoe Bay that seemed to be hanging off the edge of cliff, threatening to drop us in the tide pools at any moment.

Steph and Depoe Bay at dinnertime:



Pelican Brewery that I didn't have time to visit (fortunately I already know what their beer tastes like) on the beach Lucy didn't have time to run on: